Going to see my Dad

After dealing with the extreme heat the day before, I got up early and hit the road to see if I could get to Albuquerque without melting. It was actually pretty cool temperature wise and I was able to knock out some miles. I ended up taking Interstate 40 which I thought that I'd dread but the only issue was wind hitting me from the side again and forcing me to ride leaning to the right... Oh well, I was use to that already ;)
I made it to Gallup, NM and stopped for lunch and fuel. The final leg would be short and easy.
I arrived in ABQ in the late afternoon. It was good to land back at a familiar place to see my Dad and Stepmother and to get some rest. Air conditioning would be a nice luxury as well.
On Sunday, July Fourth, we headed to the mountains and planned to take a little hike... but that was not to be. On the way up, we discussed driving to Santa Fe to walk around and see the sights. We made a quick decision and headed for the state capitol. When we arrived we were surprised to run into a large festival taking place in Old Town. It turned out to be their annual Pancake Breakfast benefiting the United Way. Pretty Cool! There were thousands of people about; good for watching. We wandered into some really old churches with rich histories and ornate features.




I was pleased to discover an antique auto show taking place there as well. I took some cool pictures of Grills and Tails :)





It was a fun day in Santa Fe.

Time for the Grand Canyon

I got up really excited to head for the Grand Canyon! I have been there before, once as a child and just this past Christmas. I barely remember the experience as a youngster and when I made the visit during last holiday season, snow and clouds blocked all the views just minutes after I arrived. Also, both previous visits had been to the South Rim of the park. I had recently found out that the North Rim was a bit higher in elevation and was covered in green unlike the desert to the South. I made it to a campground just outside of the North Rim before it got dark and was able to pick out a good spot to pitch my tent, make dinner and get another fire going :) It was much cooler than earlier in the day when I was riding through the Arizona desert. Oh! I almost forgot to mention that the drive to the Grand Canyon from CO has almost as amazing scenery as the Grand Canyon itself. Almost.

I really don't have much to say other than everyone should make a trip to this place. The word, stunning, comes to mind but somehow words just don't do it...
Here are a few pics.




I spent about half of the following day exploring the North Rim of the park and then headed off towards New Mexico to visit my Dad and Stepmother in Albuquerque. It was Freakin' Hawt riding through the Arizona desert and my goal was to stop at a campground that my Mom told me about just South of Flagstaff. I came across this really neat Navajo Reservation Center where I took some more photos and tried to cool off but as you can tell, it wasn't in the cards ;)





I made it to Flagstaff and thought that when I got off my bike I would be walking at an angle. Why? you ask... Well I had to fight pounding winds all day long that required me to ride my bike leaned over in order to go straight-NOT FUN. Anyway, I rode into Flagstaff and looked for an ice cream joint! After eating a yummy blizzard with chocolaty peanut butter cups in it I rode towards Sedona to find the campground. (It never occurred to me that it was Friday, July 2nd, and that everyone was headed out to their favorite vacation spots). I was disappointed to find that all of the campgrounds were full. I just kept riding South and the temperature kept rising. I figured that I would adjust my direction to one that would get me going towards Albuquerque and that I would eventually find a campground along the way. Well, after passing through Sedona and then changing course, luck was not mine. I kept going but I was overheating badly. All I could think about was a swimming pool. I soon decided that a hotel room with AC was a must, so I pulled over for the night.

Off to see more of CO

That night while sitting in the brewery in Gunnison, CO I wondered where I'd head in the morning. I figured that I could stick to the mountains and end up in Durango which would be pretty much in the direction of The Grand Canyon. I starting messing around on Facebook and ended up chatting with Quentin. He asked where I was and after I told him he demanded that I go to ride highway 92 (i think) in The Black Canyon. He stated that this particular ride/road was in his top 5! Well, with advice like that, how could I resist?!! He noted that it was just West of my current local and that if nothing more I should consider making a run up the canyon and turn around once it got flat and straight.
I had a destination for the morning :)

Wednesday, June 23rd
I slept in a little later than I wanted but managed to get up, grab breakfast, load up and hit the road. I checked the map before leaving and noticed that if i took the Black Canyon route, (which I remembered that Tyler had also recommended), I could follow the road around to Highway 50, take that South to the 550 and that would put me directly on the path to Durango - SWEET!
The weather was perfect! It didn't take long for me to run into some more awesome Colorado landscape. I came across this lake with a really neat rock formation in the background.


I made it to The Black Canyon. Damn! Q was right! Awesome road, curvy and empty. Great scenery, deep canyons and Super high vistas. I was certainly worth the extra miles, if any and I urge anyone that goes near to make the drive up the canyon. :)




Unfortunately, that ride up Black Canyon wasn't without drama. At one point, pretty far into it I was riding around a right hand bend when all of a sudden a young girl, about 12 or so, came flying into my lane from a dirt road on the right. She was riding a four-wheeler and hadn't looked my direction to see if any vehicles were approaching. I knew that there wasn't enough time or room for me to turn or get my bike stopped and impact was eminent...
This girl did not have one single bit of protection on, no helmet boots or gloves. As a matter of fact she was wearing shorts, a tank top and flip flops. This was going to end very badly. (Its amazing how much information the human brain can process in times like these. I had so many thoughts go through my mind in what seemed to be less than a second.)
This girl looked just as she was directly in front of me and her eyes shot open like saucers... Then panic set in and she did what her instincts told her - SLAM THE BRAKES! ...and I thought, OH SHIT! (I'll likely escape with some bumps and bruises and likely a damaged bike but this tiny girl with hardly anything on is going to get seriously f@*ked up!
Then, when I was sure that we would hit, she took control and accelerated like a bat out of hell out of my path! My heart was pounding and I don't think that I've ever gotten angry and scared so fast before. I was still breaking to slow down and was able to look back over my shoulder and noticed that she had turned around towards the dirt road. She looked more scared than me and appeared ready to cry. I was going to stop and yell some sense into her when I realized that she had the experience and skills to know what to do with that big-ass 4x4. I reconsidered, took off and left her to review the events by herself... In the end, no one was hurt and it was something that didn't happen but what did happen took place in fractions of seconds.

After Quentin's ride, I started making my way down the "Million Dollar HWY" (550) towards Durango. I stopped in a small town somewhere and found a Mexican restaurant to grab lunch. After eating, I came outside to find the bike that started my motorcycle obsession, an '89/'90 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-7 in the SWEET Green/Blue/White paint schemed that I loved. Check it out!

It was even for sale, but this bike was less than perfect.

I took off yet again and made my way through Ouray, which is a wonderful little town. It reminded me of a little ski village. I wanted to stop and walk around a bit but it started raining right as I was passing through. I was pretty pissed about the rain because the road going out of Ouray was super curvy and looked like fun. Oh well, I'm sure there will be more. Just outside of Ouray, I found these strangely colored mountains... They were in an old mining community. I'm not sure whether the community was there to mine what the mountains had inside them or if the mining caused them to change colors?


I made it to Durango and it sure was hot there... I had hoped for cooler temperatures because I was going to camp for sure! There were two campgrounds listed on my map and they were both very close to the city. I was a little nervous that these would turn out to be the local high school late night party spot but it was getting too late to ride any further. I picked one and headed towards it. I was surprised to find that after passing through some very dense neighborhoods, I ended up on another gravel and dirt road with still a handful of miles to go. After arriving at the spot, my fears went away when I discovered that this campground was very well maintained and was filled with tall trees and natural beauty all around :) It was a nice place to lay my head. I had a little fun with the camera that night ;)

Long Time, No Post... Colorado!

Well, many days have passed since my last post and I have seen many new places ;)

I got up on Monday morning, June 28th and said goodbye to my Mom and Brother. It was great to see them and hang out in Boulder for a few days. I had come into Colorado hot and fast with dates and appointments pushing me hard forcing me to ride in the dark. I missed some great scenery and was determined to see it during the day. My plans at this point included a visit to the Grand Canyon and then off to New Mexico to visit my Dad. Between here and there was wide open and I was definitely going to take my time and just figure it out along the way... (I'm sure that many of you know how that goes against every fiber of my personality make-up). It should be fun.
I left Boulder and headed straight up the mountains! So Beautiful!

It was certainly a ride filled with stunning views and great roads. I was smiling most of the day. The only problem was this nagging thunderstorm following me... I was headed South through the Rockies thinking that I'd stay at one of the campgrounds peppered all over my map. The weather was nice but I wasn't interested in getting wet. I just kept going from small town to small town, looking over my shoulder the whole way but had no luck shaking the storm clouds. I put on my rain suite at one point when it was clear that I would be riding through a downpour, and I got a little wet but not drenched... phewww! I decided that staying in a hotel would probably be a better way to spend the night. I landed in Gunnison, CO and pulled up to the "ABC Motel". I dropped my belongings in a room and walked to a small brewery for dinner.

Oh yeah, I rode on a lot of dirt roads that day. Pretty hairy with all of the weight on the back of the Multi...

Pike's Peak Hill Climb

Well, after a mad dash to get to Colorado and being inspired by the Pike's Peak Hill Climb... Michael and I took off for Colorado Springs. The Ducati set-up was impressive despite their recent loss of their Promotions Manager :) We spent the day walking around the staging area and watching competitors take to the mountain. All of my Ducati friends were fun and we even got to run into some friends from top Ducati Dealerships around the country.
Gregg Tracy and Alexander Smith are the two riders for Team Spider Grips Ducati and put the smack down on the mountain and class in which they raced! Gregg took a First in class while Alexander finished Third after crashing during his run-up. Very impressive!
We had a great time. :)

Day Hike in CO

Mom, Michael and I went to the mountains to escape the heat in Boulder and to take a hike.

Get to CO ASAP!

I woke up in ID and knew that I had to get to Colorado in order to make the events at Pike's Peak. My rear tire is burning up fast so I decided to pull over and make a few calls to Denver Ducati dealerships in order to set an appointment for new "shoes". After a couple of calls I got it settled with Erico Motorsports. They agreed to install two new tires first thing Friday am, the very next day.
At first the weather was perfect. It was still early morning and they air was light and cool. As time moved forward the temp heated up quick. I was running fast and sticking to the boring flat highways in order to make good time. Then... my bike started to swerve all over the place. I knew immediately that I had a flat tire. I pulled off the road to confirm that my rear tire was completely squished. SHIT! I had just crossed into Colorado and was basically in the middle of B.F.E. Fortunately for me, I had cell reception. After calling my insurance carrier, Foremost, I was told that help was on the way. The mechanic arrived after an hour and 1/2 and took 45 minutes to plug my tire... which ended up putting me way behind. I was expecting to arrive in Boulder by 10pm at the latest but I had now idea when I would arrive after this small set back.
I rode, rode, rode. I ended up missing much of the great scenery as I was riding through the evening in the dark. I noticed deer and other wildlife many times and that made me quite nervous. But in the end, I arrived safely at my Mom's home in Boulder where she and my brother were waiting. I think that I got there around 1am.
After feeling pretty beat up from riding all day I decided to hang in Boulder for a couple of days and take it easy with my peeps :)